Video of US Army Air Force flyers in B-25G (PBJ-1G) Mitchell bombers equipped with a 75mm M4 cannon / gun on strafing and bombing missions during World War II.
This is a compilation of newsreel and film clips and show part of a mission by the 7th Army Air Force over the Marshall Islands. Also shows part of another mission in color by an unknown unit over an unknown Pacific island.
Thanks for watching and please like, comment, share and Subscribe! Also please feel free to use YouTube's embed feature to put any of my videos on your blogs, forums, articles, & websites, etc.
Subscribe/Channel Homepage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMduFNeBB04kWlRnLOV3y_Q
Follow on Tumblr at: http://historyflicks4u.tumblr.com/
and Twitter at: https://twitter.com/HistoryFlicks4U

Wish it would have shown the hits and damage the shells did bit still I love these older historic film clips.

Querencias7 (1 month ago)

That is ONE AWESOME WEAPON to add to a B-25!

DrTeknical (1 month ago)

My father was in the 500th Sq of the 345th BG, 5th AAF. When he went overseas, it was in a brand new B-25H. He and another pilot left from Columbia, SC and flew to San Francisco. There, a full bomb bay fuel tank was installed and a "real" (as my Dad called him) navigator came on board. They then flew to Hickam Field on Oahu, Hawaii. By Themselves! The full bomb bay tank was removed, and a half bomb bay tank was installed. My Dad and the other pilot then "island hopped" to Townsville, Australia where they turned their plane over to the armorers. In fact, most H models never saw much service with the 345th. One of the modifications of the H was the removal of the co-pilots position to make room for ammo storage for the 75mm cannon. This was a very very bad idea, since most missions that groups like the 345th and 38th flew were at 150 FEET and below! If the pilot of an H model was killed or disabled, the plane and the other crew were instantly doomed to crash. There was almost a mutiny among flight crews over this issue! Most H models were stripped for any and all parts that could be used on Cs and Ds, Gs, and later J models. As other posters have noted here, most crews wanted the full 8 to 12 gun 50 caliber nose gun setup, as it provided a truly amazing amount of firepower on target during strafing runs. The G model was indeed very effective against Jap shipping, and did sink destroyers, frigates, and innumerable barges and luggers. For most missions, the massive amount of 50 caliber fire, along with 23lb parachute-retarded para-fragmentation and para-demolition bombs was the best combination of firepower.
If you haven't seen it yet, watch "Mission to Rabaul" on YouTube. Other videos of the amazing 5th AAF will be suggested to you as well! as well.

Jon Stenberg (28 days ago)

Wow, that's awesome! I had Doolittle's great granddaughter sign his autobiography. She goes to college near me. Have his signature also on an art print. I'll def check out 345th BG webpage!

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Thanks Jon! If you're interested, the 345th BG webpage has all of the original mission reports available. Through them, I've been able to trace exactly which plane my Dad flew on every mission he was pilot on. I can read from his logbook, and know exactly what his plane did each time he went out! As you can imagine, this is very exciting for me! I've always had two B-25 pilot WWII heros in my life:
My Dad, and
General Jimmy Doolittle!

Jon Stenberg (1 month ago)

DrTeknical great post! Thanks

svenmega10022 (2 months ago)

And the Japs still thought they were going to win?

Matt Johnson (3 months ago)

That is so awesome!!

U.K Air rifles Hunting&Target (3 months ago)

i recognize those islands . This is blatant copy write . Warthunder got there first i'm sure . Between the first release of planes and the Navy release is easily a couple of generations . ;-)

Baltic Hammer (4 months ago)

Thanks for uploading the video. I'd seen stills of the 75mm installed but no action. I'll bet the pilots and aircrew kept a close watch on the airframe for stress cracks.

bill leach (5 months ago)

yes it can

bill leach (5 months ago)

this is the gun of size first this is gun ship type 1 75 mm hv sucked any how

Jonny Beck (5 months ago)

A shame the pix is stretched to fit...

okrajoe (6 months ago)

Fascinating technology.

The Ack Show (7 months ago)

My father was a design engineer at the B-25 plant in Kansas City Kansas. He worked on the design of the Factory 75mm mount there. He was the first person to fire a 75mm round on the range over Fort Riley, Kansas. He recalled the event as knocking 50-74 MPH off the airspeed and blowing the bubble off the front of the plane. As someone suggested in here this commentary smaller loads were used in regular operations. I would assume that they used a standard 75mm round that day. There is another newsreel on YouTube that show my father handing shells up through the front wheel well. https://youtu.be/x7XmzaL2xyU

Jeff Lebowski (7 months ago)

The forerunner of the AC-130.

bongodrumzz (9 months ago)

the germans also had something like this, the He129 uhu (owl) it had a 75mm borderkanone, carried 12 rounds in an autoloader and they sorted the recoil problem with shallow diving attacks and a heavy duty recoil mechanism, a right cheeky little number which suffered from lack of numbers, mostly used against russian tankers in the east

Kurt 104 (8 months ago)

Nut just lack of numbers, they were designed to use second tier engines

Terd Ferguson (9 months ago)

Warthunder?!!?!??! where you at????

John S (10 months ago)

Brought to you courtesy of P.I. "Pappy" Gunn.

John S (10 months ago)

Read the book "Indestructible" by John R. Bruning. It tells a fascinating story about this guy's life and exploits during WW II.

Ron Hoffstein (10 months ago)

Sound? Is there any?

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

WWII 8 or 16 mm movie film. No, there isn't any sound! HaHa!

batmandeltaforce (11 months ago)

First A-10

Kurt 104 (8 months ago)

the Spad biplane was the first to mount a cannon

Driveway Nats (11 months ago)

Should have test fired it at those flimsy Tokyo houses

Duck ,formally known as Censor (11 months ago)

I wonder if the same kind of thinking that built the A-10 went into this plane. "Hey this french cannon sure is awesome, but you know what would be more awesome? If we could make it fly".

immikeurnot (29 days ago)

IIRC, this mod got its start as one done in the field. Some 20-something crew chief and his pilot probably got together and thought exactly that.

Sierra MatchKing (1 year ago)

Forerunner of the AC-130 gunship.

densealloy (1 month ago)

Sierra MatchKing I was thinking the same thing (posted as much on other vid) that and the A10 but saw the later comments and think others thinking same. Of course I'm saying it tongue in cheek as I know it is a different war, a mod, different mission, different gun and different ammo, before anyone thinks I am being to serious.

JosephK109 (3 months ago)

Yes and No. The Warthog has a 30mm GAU-8/A rotary 7-barrel gatling gun. It does put out a ferocious amount of firepower; it is about a one inch cannon (25.2 mm = 1 inch) firing at 4,200 r/p/min. It has depleted uranium shells that are of the exploding type and render a modern tank into a large pile of junk in just seconds. The 75mm cannon was the standard infantry and naval cannon during WW1 and even continued on in WW2 as the main gun of the M-4 Sherman tank. While the 75mm shells are high-explosive, it is a low-velocity cannon, whereas the shells of the GAU-8 are high velocity and rip a target to shreds in seconds due to its high rate of fire. While the 75 mm cannon fires one shot, the GAU-8 fires 4,200 shells per minute. The continuous fire of the GAU-8 would most likely bring the B-25G out of the sky, whereas the one-shot 75mm had a recoil-absorbing carriage which kept it from doing major damage to the B-25. The C-130 gunships use a 105 mm cannon with a recoil-absorbing carriage; latest reports are that the c-130 airframe is taking damage from the 105 cannon. The Air Force is looking into a better recoil absorbing carriage for the C-130 Hercules which is still in production today. It is the modern version of the DC-3. It is very difficult to compare the two planes. They are, at a minimum, one generation apart, and the DC-3 weighs, fully loaded, about 25,000 pounds with 2 x 1,200 horsepower engines. The C-130 has a maximum weight of 155,000 pounds and uses 4 x 4,600 shaft horsepower turboprops and a payload of approximately 72,000 pounds. The C-130 is a STOL aircraft; it can land, back up by reversing its prop pitch, and then take off in less runway length than it took to land. I witnessed that at Quonset Point NAS in the early 1970s; "Fat Albert", the support aircraft of the Blue Angels Naval Flight Demonstration Team, performed that demonstration for the cheering crowd. Different generation; different airplane.

• 5stars • (7 months ago)

Jonathan Hughes Nope

dapsapsrp (8 months ago)

The Dakota was introduced in 1965 on an outdated airframe while the C-130 Spectre was introduced in 1968. The Dakota was barely a forerunner and only by a few short years.

Jonathan Hughes (9 months ago)

Moreover, the concept (moderate-sized plane with a big ol' gun for ground attack) is the forerunner of the A-10 Thunderbolt II "Warthog".

Geoff Conroy (1 year ago)

I still have in my possession a brass casing from one of these modified 75mm cannons is it of any historic value to a museum???

it might be, there were a lot of italian pow's taken during WW2 during the east african campaign, and they often turned old 75mm casings into brass flower vases etc, i have one my dad bought as a souvenir

TechNiVolt (11 months ago)

Probably. Give it to the planes of fame museum in California. They would love it.

KAVE -227 (1 year ago)

PBJ-1H

soaringtractor (6 months ago)

Still Air Force !!! DUUUHHH!!!!!! ZOOOOOOMMMIES !!!!!

Kyle ____ (11 months ago)

There was no air force in the second world war. It was the US Army Air Corps.

Butcher_ Bird_44 (1 year ago)

That was navy version, this is the air force one.

DRAGONF1RESr (1 year ago)

I like how they say "this portion is silent" This is only because it is not "newsreal footage, that the producers have ADDED sound to. If you listen to the audio, you will notice, that there is no, or very weak engine noise, but you can hear clearly the 75mm cannon, the .50 cal, something that sounds like a 37mm belt fed cannon, and other small arms fire.

Nigel (1 year ago)

Its a Pbj

MakeMeThinkAgain (1 year ago)

This might have been better in the ASW role.

Matthew Weisenburger (1 year ago)

"can and have sunk a destroyer" i thing WT needs a patch

jim s (13 days ago)

75mm is as big as your ankle and about 12" long. Weighs ~40#. Ain't no MG!

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Bronco53 If you can find a copy of it locally, I'm sure that you would enjoy reading Larry Hickey's book Warpath Across The Pacific. It tells the complete story of the 345th Bomb Group (5th AAF) in the SW Pacific during WWII. As you already know, they sank numerous Japanese warships, luggers, and barges with .50 cal gunfire from B-25 Cs, Ds, Gs, and Js.

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Jon enker26 ... You Know Nothing

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Exactly right! My Dad (a pilot in the 500th of the 345thBG) told me how the 345thG and the 38thBG did just that when they encountered Frigates, and on at least two occasions, Destroyers, after bombing their primary targets. They had lots of 50 cal ammo left, and just strafed the ships till they were absolutely riddled! They didn't call they "Tin Cans" for nothing.
But don't worry, all the 20something know it alls on here know EVERYTHING about WWII... pphhttt

Bronco 53 (1 month ago)

Enker, that is simply not true. Destroyers were not armored. Period. The heaviest armor they had on most destroyer classes was in the gun shields at the AAA and GP mounts, and that was 10 to 25mm at most. The Fletcher class, widely acknowledged as the single BEST armored destroyer class of WW2, had, at the thickest points, only 19mm (3/4 inch) or armor, and that was only around the key parts of the command and engineering spaces, and did not include the weapons and magazine spaces. Most other destroyer classes had closer to 5-10mm of non-hardened steel between the interior and whatever was spitting lead at them. This is easily perforable by a .50 BMG AP round at moderate strafing ranges.
A low velocity 75mm cannon was plenty to overmatch destroyer armor.

AH6OY (1 year ago)

Hey Phil my dad flew the B-25's too. He mentioned how it seemed like a good idea some place in command to mount the 75mm but the gun would loosen rivets so they got taken out. Good riddance was the pilots view since they were heavy effecting flight performance and took a man away from his usual job. Every firing took 5kts off their speed and they'd have to nose up to lob 75mm's. Pilots didn't like playing up and down while trying to line up good 50 and bomb hits either. Lots of low level flying typically lower than this video as a rule for their patrols search and destroying. Glass noses were for Europe guys. Dads fighting while in the 38th bomb group saw the planes progress from glass nose to finally go into their best configuration of solid 50cals nose and sides. Command wanting to see whats being sunk had them take cameras telling them make a turn to get a picture of damage and such. One pass was all it took and the ships would be sunk by time they got a turn to see damage and type. So they'd give the camera to a guy in the back and jink out of there as usual. Busy boys. If just 50cals didn't sink the ships the bomb would. 12 50cals make a world of leaks and hurt. Those B-25's did solo weather missions checking weather and looking for enemy sinking anything found. They even found unknown of Japanese bases sometimes. Trees and ships antenna wires hanging off of planes after landing. Kind of feel sorry for some of the Japanese when a squad of patrolling B-25's would find them and have all that 50cal and bombs eating them up. B-25's got the parachutes on bombs pretty quick after a few cases of bombs bouncing back up through the plane. One plane in my dads group survived a bomb bouncing back up through the plane. Heard some had the bomb go off when bouncing back up into them. Tough job. Towards the end of the war the rear 50cals were removed and fake wooden barrels installed. The bottom turrets in the pacific were removed in the early part of the war due to that guy wouldn't get much to shoot and trees could ruin his day and if the turret was damaged the guy couldn't get out. The bottom turret would take a lot of hits always flying their missions at low level. Not good when all shot up since like some unfortunate souls the bottom turret guy would die from belly landings.

rancid pitts (15 days ago)

DrTeknical Rarely mentioned is the post factory modification centers and field modifications. Modification Centers did Official changes at the request of gaining Command or Unit. Field mods were done by the using unit to tailor the Aircraft to the mission needs. Any configuration that fit the needs or desires was possible.
My mother worked on the B 17 production line at Douglas. They were curious as to whatever became of their babies. The USAAF sent information and photos by Tail Number ; all had been modified since factory. My mom built a standard model. The owning unit Tailored it to fit.

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

UUmmmm, the B-25's bottom turret was sighted and fired via a periscope! NOT by having a guy in it like a B-17. That said, all it ever accomplished was to make the gunner airsick! They were all removed to make room for a bigger bomb/ammo load-in. My Dad was a pilot in the 345th of the 5th.

MakeMeThinkAgain (1 year ago)

+AH6OY Yeah, I'd rather have the usual 12 .50 caliber.

jan gray (1 year ago)

My father flew one of those B-25's with a 75mm.The Visious Virgin l & ll. He'd say " I like to announce my arrival with the 75."

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Which BG and Squadron was your Dad in?! Hopefully, the 345th!!

xboxgamer (6 months ago)

I guess the US also had a Vicious Virgin, we brits had a Halifax Mike nicknamed 'Vicky The Vicious Virgin'

Anthony Smith (10 months ago)

Viscious

Thiravet Pramuanratkarn (1 year ago)

Now that I know why that Hollywood movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V9ik07qvMM) is entitled, "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo." (See subtitle at 2:25 in the video)

Goetz Liedtke (1 year ago)

My uncle maintained these aircraft among others in the Pacific Theater. He flew with the B-25s on missions as an observer. He told me that the aircraft lost a few knots of airspeed with each firing of the 75mm cannon. The aircraft his maintenance crews supported also had rockets. The rockets were loaded onto the underwing racks by shoving them back on a rod that engaged the tail of the rocket and then shoving the front part of the rocket up into the ignition mount. The pilot would fire the rockets with a switch that sent a fire voltage to one rocket per wing in a ripple. My uncle lost an airman when the pilot's switch was installed (or repaired) into the electrical ignition backward. As soon as the loader shoved the rocket into the mount socket, it fired and burned the man to death.

Withab BJ (1 year ago)

The Mosquito also experimented with the use of a 57 mm rapid firing cannon.

soaringtractor (6 months ago)

The "flying tooth pick" !!!!

Dan Zervos (1 year ago)

The 57 mm fired about a 6 pound round, the 75 mm had about a 15 pound round.

MarsFKA (1 year ago)

+Withab BJ It was used operationally for a short time. In his 1957 book, “Flames In The Sky”, Pierre Closterman tells how a pair of Coastal Command Mosquitos, armed with the 57-mm 6-pounder, caught a German destroyer on its own. Staying out of range of the flak, the Mosquitos fired repeatedly at the ship, puncturing its boilers and wrecking its turbines.
They left the ship dead in the water and, the next day, two Coastal Command Liberators sank it with bombs.

karlbushtheII (1 year ago)

That cannon is wicked. Imagine how loud that must have been! Just think of how hard reloading that thing must have been, amazing.

Stephen Coleman (1 year ago)

The 75 was a nice touch but I think they would have been better served by using the space to add a couple of more .50's you can NEVER have enough of those

Terry Davis (1 year ago)

I read somewhere that the plane would actually shudder and slow with the recoil!!

Dan Zervos (1 year ago)

I think the 75 mm was primarily for attacking merchant ships, allowing them to hit the ship before coming within range of the ships anti-aircraft guns.

Terry Davis (1 year ago)

+Stephen Coleman I agree. P-38J = one 20 mm, four .50 cal. In the nose. Makes it hard to miss. 75 mms must have been for bridges or cliff gun emplacements.

Geoff Conroy (1 year ago)

I retrieved a 75mm Cannon from a wrecked B25 Bomber shot down in NAURU Island and i also have in my posession a shell cartridge from the plane, It was mounted on a special aluminium frame and fired a much shorter round than a standard 75mm shell,obviously a standard round cannot be used it would tear the gun out of the mountings.It was moving realising that the wreckage ended good mens lives RIP.

sharkbot25 (2 years ago)

the could have mounted a sherman tank turret on the fuselage ,could be used for 360 degree fire

Anthony Smith (10 months ago)

They could have....! Sherman...

William Cox (2 years ago)

The B25J and H were (some of them) equipped with the '75, which was not particularly highly regarded for a couple major reasons. On one hand, the rate of fire for the early model was extremely slow (as seen in the footage). On the other hand, the recoil was so fierce for an aircraft that it rocked the whole plane (also clearly shown in the test fire footage) and slowed it down when fired, causing it to drop several feet with every shot. Watch carefully and you'll see the firing planes go nose down instants after discharge. When you're close to the ground this is an extremely dangerous characteristic.
The later model of 75mm gun, the T13, had a much higher rate of fire, along with a space and weight saving concentric recoil mechanism, and so was handier in use. Still, many pilots preferred removing the cannon altogether (which could be done in the field), in order to carry 8x 5" HVAR (free flight rockets), which, while far less accurate and shorter of range, hit a lot harder than a single round from the cannon. The final versions of the cannon armed B25 had as many as 8 forward firing .50cal Machine Guns clustered around the nose and provisions for the eight rockets, as well.
"Weight of metal" for these late versions was considerable and any target caught in the crosshairs was in for a terrible time.

DrTeknical (28 days ago)

Hello William! The B-25 G and H models had the 75mm cannon. No Js were produced that way. For the SW Pacific, many Js came with the factory-installed 8 gun 50 cal nose job. Four more 50s, 2 per side on the fusilage, were often added in the field. The top turret could be swiveled to the front, and locked into "bore-sight" with the other 12 50s to give a staggering total of 14, 50 cal machine guns available during strafing attacks. After every burst, the co-pilot frantically pulled charging levers (cable actuated) to clear each gun before the next burst was fired, to clear any jammed guns to make sure that they were ALL firing!

ERIC BRAMMER (1 year ago)

Yup! it bucked ya!!
For God's sake, did the aft gunner get an extra Ass/Para pack on b4 you shot the main gun breeche-ward up his Bum? If not, you'd have a pissed off rear gunner, broken plane, and an Air Warden wondering who the-hell you were!
My Uncle flew , USAAF, B-17's and B-26's , and a few B-25's, plus others, mostly in the Euro/Medit area,'42 on. He had an few kills to his credit, too.It was odd to find him! . Then to again once I figured out it made sense in regards

Ærik Bjørnsson (1 year ago)

+ERIC BRAMMER you're missing the point entirely, and both my grandparents served in the war for your information my mothers side was a navigator in a b-24 and the other ran landing craft in the pacific. The ONLY thing I was making a joke about was the enormous recoil of the cannon..

ERIC BRAMMER (1 year ago)

Sorry, Majestic, while I follow your path in In the thought process, IT IS NOT WHAT MY FATHER NOR UNCLE observed ..
SERVING this Country 71 years ago! Game on, certainly, unknowing of whom you may represent, it becomes you and your languid generation. Sims are nice, but NOT complete! My Kin gave of their souls for your generation's "next" abilities within the context of a free democracy, and YOU had better live up to those standards!
It ain't free, dude! Moreover, it isn't a fricking GAME, then, it was WAR and the winner got to come Home, IF, If he got to come home, he won. Try a reperspective on Your expectations, Eh? And, maybe, a bit of RESPECT?!

Ærik Bjørnsson (1 year ago)

+ERIC BRAMMER it's a game using a cheat to provide instant reload times to a 75mm aircraft cannon. Realism is not part of the discussion lol I'm just talking about the enormous recoil :P

FlippinDingDong (2 years ago)

The color footage is from "Winged Artillery", and is footage of the 48th Bombardment Squadron, 41st Bomb Group, 7th Army Air Force bombing Milli Atoll in January 1944.